Today, the defence ministers from NATO’s 29 member-states will convene in Brussels for a ministerial-level summit that is expected to

Photo: Reuters/Francois Lenoir

Today, the defence ministers from NATO’s 29 member-states will convene in Brussels for a ministerial-level summit that is expected to focus on contemporary threats to alliance readiness.

Much like the leader summit in July, this meeting will discuss the threat of the offensive cyber capabilities of NATO’s adversaries, particularly Russia, and concerns that not enough is being done at the national level to address these emerging dangers.

While NATO has existing frameworks that acknowledge the threat of cyber-attacks and consider them attacks on the alliance, it has done little to address the vulnerability that exists at the national level in terms of readiness. While NATO is upgrading its own internal computer systems and satellites to counter such capabilities, its own member states have been unequipped to deal with cyber espionage, threats to critical infrastructure and Russian disinformation campaigns.

Defence ministers are expected to commit to addressing the danger posed by Russian offensive cyber capabilities, but national capabilities to effectively deny Russian cyberattacks will require additional time to develop. Expect defence ministers to continue to move towards addressing these threats through deeper inter-alliance cooperation that could include more profound technology and information sharing.

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